Durham Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Matthew G.T. Martin, United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, announced today that SASHA SHABLEY JACKSON pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aiding and abetting the preparation of false tax returns.

JACKSON, age 32, of Durham, N.C., pleaded guilty before Chief United States District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder in federal court in Winston-Salem, to one count of tax fraud, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2).

According to documents filed with the court, JACKSON owned and operated Top Notch Professional Tax Services, in Durham, North Carolina, preparing tax returns for clients from 2015 to 2019. During that time, she knowingly and willfully prepared and caused to be filed with the IRS income tax returns that were materially false. The false items including false dependents, false income, false education credits, and false fuel tax credits, all of which produced fraudulently inflated refunds. The IRS determined that the tax loss attributable to JACKSON’s misconduct is $1,196,263.

The defendant faces a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, and a term of supervised release of not more than one year. She also agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $1,196,263. Sentencing will occur in Winston-Salem on June 9, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.

The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tanner Kroeger.

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